Hydrostatic drive units for vehicles are known (DE C 2 32 35 378). Thereby, it is required that the drive unit be so compact, especially in the axial direction, that it does not project laterally over the width of a caterpillar track of a crawler excavator or of the wheel of a vehicle. At the same time, the radial dimensions in the area of the seat of the centering device have to be selected so that drive system can be inserted and removed as a completely preassembled unit. These requirements are difficult to meet, when in or on the control housing of the hydromotor wheel brake valves are mounted in addition to other control valves. However, the arrangement of the valves directly on the control housing is advantageous because of increasing the response sensitivity of the drive due to short control lines